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Gift Planning Advisory Committee

Gift Planning Advisory Committee

Queen’s University’s Gift Planning Advisory Committee is an operational committee of the Office of Advancement created to provide guidance and support for the University’s gift planning endeavours and to act as advocates for the program. Volunteer committee members are Queen’s alumni and donors who are appointed based on their estate, trust, tax, insurance, and financial planning expertise. They are recognized nationally as leaders in their respective fields of practice. Members generously share their time and expertise to help Queen’s staff ensure that readers of the Gift Planning Newsletter and other potential donors receive helpful information.

For more information, contact Melissa East Aspila, Executive Director of Gift Planning, or call 1-800-267-7837.

Gift Planning Advisory Committee

J. Mark Skeggs, Com ’98, Chair. Vice-President, Wealth Planning, Gluskin Sheff

Mark, Com'98, is a Vice-President, Wealth Planning, at Gluskin Sheff and helps explore succession, tax, retirement, and estate planning issues for Gluskin Sheff's owner and high net worth clients.

Prior to joining Gluskin Sheff in 2020, Mark worked with RBC advisors across the country as a Business Owner Specialist to explore tax, estate and wealth planning issues and to identify strategies and solutions on structuring client’s affairs in a manner that addresses their overall wealth planning needs. Mark spent the first 14 years of his career with PwC LLP in their Private Company Services tax practice in Toronto. Acting as a trusted business advisor for Ultra High Net Worth families, Mark was responsible for the creation and implementation of effective strategies for wealth preservation and accumulation in the context of tax, estate and succession planning for owner-managers of private companies, senior executives of public companies and professional athletes.

Mark is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, and a Trust and Estate Practitioner. He has completed the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Advance Certificate in Family Business Advising, all three levels of the CPA Canada In-Depth Tax Course, as well as the Advanced Tax Issues for the Owner-Managed Business Course and the Corporate Reorganizations Course. Mark has served as a member of the International Qualifications Appraisal Board of CPA Canada, Chair of the Board of Evaluators for CPA Ontario and Vice President and Treasurer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ontario.

As a grateful alumnus and a proud Kingstonian, Mark is excited to be a member of the Gift Planning Advisory Committee and share his wealth planning knowledge to advance support for Queen’s University.

Karen J. Cooper, Member. Partner, Drache Aptowitzer LLP

Karen Cooper practices charity and not-for-profit law with an emphasis on corporate and tax issues with Drache Aptowitzer LLP in Ottawa, Ontario. She is also a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law teaching basic taxation and an advanced seminar (Introduction to the Law of Charities and Non-Profit Organizations) and is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Land Trust Alliance and the Kemptville District Hospital. Ms. Cooper has been recognized as a leading expert in charity and not-for-profit law by Lexpert and The Best Lawyers in Canada.

Sunita Doobay, Law ’92, Member. Partner, Blaney McMurtry LLP

Sunita, Law’92, is a Partner at Blaney McMurtry LLP and advises closely held companies, funds, and individual clients on a broad range of tax matters including cross-border structuring and succession planning.

Sunita holds several senior industry leadership positions including acting as the Co-Chair of the International Tax Committee of the American Bar Association, Section of International Law. She is the current editor of the International Tax Committee contribution to the Section of International Law Year in Review of the American Bar Association. She sits on the tax committee of the Portfolio Management Association of Canada. She is a former member of the Board for Federated Press – Personal Tax and Estate Planning Journal.

She has taught the Taxation of Trusts and Estates course at Queen’s Law School and has lectured at the International Tax Program (LLM) at New York University School of Law.

With two daughters at Queens and a sister who graduated from Queen’s Medical School, she is a very proud alumna.

Brandon Hodge, Law ’01, Member. Partner, Specialty Tax and National Tax Controversy Leader, MNP

During his time at Queen’s, Brandon was involved in many activities and served as a student member of the Law School Faculty Board (2000-2001). Brandon also worked with Dr. Rod Lindsay in the Queen’s Department of Psychology assisting with research on eyewitness reliability.

Brandon’s professional practice focuses on providing tax advice with particular emphasis on personal tax planning for owner-managed businesses, private corporate reorganizations, and the purchase and sale of a business. Brandon also has extensive experience regarding dispute resolution with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Brandon previously practiced as a lawyer in B.C. and Ontario. Before joining MNP, Brandon worked at Bay St. law firms and Big Four accounting firms.

Leanne Kaufman, Law ’96, Member. President and CEO, RBC Royal Trust

Leanne, Law’96, is President and CEO of the Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and the Royal Trust Company and is responsible for the strategy and overall management of the business which provides wealth protection and transfer solutions across generations to high-net-worth Canadian families.

Leanne serves as a director on the Royal Trust Board, and as a member of the RBC Wealth Management Canada Operating Committee. She is a lawyer by profession, having practiced commercial litigation prior to joining Royal Trust in 1999.
The author of the fourth edition of The Executor’s Handbook published by CCH, Leanne is also a contributor to the Financial Post, and a sought-after contributor to numerous industry publications on the subject of estates and trusts. She is a member of the STEP Worldwide Council, a member of the National Institute on Ageing Advisory Board, and serves on several sports and education boards and committees in her community.

Leanne earned her Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University and a Master of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, where she is a former Adjunct Professor.

Nancy McConnell, Artsci ’85, Member. Head of Industry, Consumer Packaged Goods

Nancy McConnell is a strategic business leader and a curious, tenacious optimist who specializes in productive partnerships. Nancy is Director, Strategic Customer Partnerships for Google Cloud. In this role, Nancy brings the best of Google teams, products and Alphabet companies to accelerate innovation in Canadian businesses, with a focus on growing Google Cloud in Canada.

Before joining Google Cloud in July 2021, Nancy worked in Google’s advertising and marketing
functions for over 6 years, most recently as Director, Agency & Industry Relations and as a
member of the Canadian Leadership Team. Before Google, Nancy was Vice President, Digital
Sales & Operations at Bell Media.

Nancy is an active executive sponsor of Employee Resource Groups which support underrepresented employees and their allies, with the shared value of promoting diversity and inclusion at Google. Nancy is a mentor for PwC’s Women in Leadership program and dedicated to the United Way Greater Toronto as a member of the Governance & Human Resources Committee, Chair of the Strategic Resource Development Committee and Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Nancy holds a BA (Honours) in Philosophy from Queen’s University.

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Gift Planning Advisory Committee

Gift Planning Advisory Committee

J. Mark Skeggs, Com ’98, Chair. Vice-President, Wealth Planning, Gluskin Sheff

Karen J. Cooper, Member. Partner, Drache Aptowitzer LLP

Sunita Doobay, Law ’92, Member. Partner, Blaney McMurtry LLP

Brandon Hodge, Law ’01, Member. Partner, Specialty Tax and National Tax Controversy Leader, MNP

Leanne Kaufman, Law ’96, Member. President and CEO, RBC Royal Trust

Nancy McConnell, Artsci ’85, Member. Head of Industry, Consumer Packaged Goods